How many time have you listened to a story about somebody’s business problems and then casually observed how ‘they should have known better’? And as we probably all make the same type of stupid mistakes in our own commercial worlds, I find it amazing how we so rarely refer the same comment back on ourselves

The issue of why we ‘insist on getting things wrong’ has been bugging at me for some time . Again this week, I was confronted by two such instances. First up came a story from the Israeli army. A senior officer recently took up a new appointment. In order to ‘make his mark’, he started to hand out punishments for even the slightest misdemeanour.

One decorated soldier, rapidly approaching his demob date, was given a two-week suspension on barracks for leaving his kit bag unattended. The original consideration had been the clink. The reasoning behind the harsh sentencing of the stalwart, who has field command experience, is to further excellence and to set an example. An example to whom, I ask?

The soldier made an honest mistake. He already knows better than his immediate behaviour might suggest. And he is about to finish his service. So, the punishment is hardly likely to teach him anything. As for others in the unit, they are so disgusted with the razor-sharp attitude of the officer, their motivation took a fair beating.

It is obvious to the reader. Surely it would have also been clear to the newbee powerman in the squad. And yet he went ahead with his actions, which have drawn the exact opposite results from what was desired.

Similarly, I met up with a client this week, who is stuck in her attempt to prepare a new product for market launch. She knows what she wants to do and why. She has deep experience in the field. She can rationalise accurately everything that needs to be done, and at considerable length. She has refined the concept, repeatedly……and more.  However, she refuses to move to the stage of implementation, even when she knows it is the right thing to do.

I was watching a video by Dan Ariely, psychologist and behavioural economist. “We do things that we think we know how they work, but we are wrong.” He goes on to describe how sometimes we let the mind dictate to us what we see rather than observe through our eyes.

As a business coach one of my tasks is to present questions and challenges to my clients. A necessary first step is not to understand what and how they are going to change, but if they are a prepared to step into a new comfort zone.

And if the answer is no, for whatever reason, then the pile of mistakes will continue to mount up.